Ron Paul: Why I Didn’t Run as an Independent

Transcript

Interviewer:Ron Paul is packing up his Washington condo this week, preparing to sell it and move back to Texas for good. Paul is retiring from Congress, and last week he gave a farewell address from the House floor, repeating the small-government sermon he first shouted in obscurity, and then injected into the national debate. With his time in Washington DC coming to a close, I sat down with Paul for a kind of ‘exit interview’.

Question: You’ve been here on-and-off since 1976, what would you say the three most damaging special interests are in Washington?

Ron Paul: You know, I see so many, and they’re all the same.

Interviewer: I know, but you much have some that really bother you.

Ron Paul: I think the military-industrial complex is very bad.

Interviewer: That was No.1.

Ron Paul: I don’t know if they should be in order.

Interviewer: Okay, don’t give them in order.

Ron Paul: Another one would be the banking system: how the Federal Reserve works and how it helps big banks. The interest that I would like to see, and that I worked on, was to try to get those people who just want their freedom to take care of themselves, and that’s the one that’s the least influential. Up here, it’s the people who want stuff and who get the benefits by just lobbying for those things that they want.

Interviewer: Another thing you mentioned in your farewell speech is your belief that we need to build coalitions, not necessarily reach compromises. And I wonder if you think your beliefs could be a 51% coalition in your lifetime, or in what timeframe?

Ron Paul: I think if I talk to a crowd of people, no matter which crowd, and say, “Do you believe in the free enterprise system, that people should be able to work and have their earning?” they say, “Yea, I believe that”. And if I asked, “Do you believe that your privacy should be protected, that the government shouldn’t be in your bedroom, that they shouldn’t be spying on you?” people would agree. And, most of the time when I asked, “Do you think we should be the policeman of the world?” they say, “No”. But when it comes to the particulars, they don’t stick with it, and they say, “Yes, but go too far, you want too much freedom”.

Interviewer: Well, this is another thing you touched on in that speech, you said this idea of liberty is popular, has been popular, so why doesn’t it win. It’s kind of a question that you didn’t fully answer in that speech, why do you think it doesn’t win?

Ron Paul: Not a lot of people talk about it, and I did try to explain it in the speech, in that, the concern about freedom was lost because freedom creates so much prosperity, that people get complacent. Then they become materialistic, and all they can deal with is redistribution and they find that with the government, you can make more money by getting a contract from the government than by being a genius and being productive. You know, when I first came here in 1976, I think I was under the impression that if you talk about welfare, you’re talking about those people who won’t work and get food stamps. But I have a very different opinion now. That exists, and it’s not healthy, but that’s minor compared to the food stamps the wealthy get. The wealthy get the contracts and the special deals, and that’s where I think the biggest trouble is.

Interviewer: That’s a way of speaking that most Republicans don’t usually engage in. Your son, the senator from Kentucky, Rand Paul, said recently that the Republican Party is in danger of becoming a dinosaur.

Ron Paul: Yea, but I think the whole government and the Democratic Party and the Republican Party are all dinosaurs.

Interviewer: What’s the future of the Republican Party, though?

Ron Paul: Well, the same as the Democratic Party. The principles are dinosaurs. The parties are going to linger because they’re locked in by law. You know, we’re not allowed to compete, the laws are biased against us from competing. And if you go third-party, you can’t get in the debates and you can’t get on ballots.

Interviewer: You talk about the grip of that two-party system, did you seriously consider running as an independent for President in 2012?

Ron Paul: No.

Interviewer: You didn’t consider it because it’s not practical?

Ron Paul: Not practical, absolutely not practical. Because this would have been a good year to have an alternative, and you can’t get much of a showing either on the Libertarian side or the Green side.

Interviewer: So then, how do we get out of this system, what do us see as the answer to this, or do we just keep bumping along with the way things are? You can’t believe that, that would make you too sad.

Ron Paul: No, you go to the campuses, you rally the young people, and you stir up a whole generation of people. Ideas do have consequences, and that’s where the good news is, because the campuses are alive and well with these views and they know the system is bankrupt. And there is this illusion that you can spend endlessly and print endlessly, and there will always be credit out there. And so far so good, but credit can end quickly, the dollar can crash quickly, and a new system will have to be developed.

Interviewer: One last thing, where do you pride yourself?

Ron Paul: Nothing in particular, other than the fact that the people say, “One thing we can say about you is that you are very consistent”, and they say this in a very nice way.

Interviewer: And you’ve changed the discussion in this country, you must be proud of that.

Ron Paul: Yea, that would be nice, time will tell. But what I always get a charge out of is when they’re so nice and they say, “This is good, you’re very consistent”, they must say to themselves, “But I’m always inconsistent”, and that’s wonderful. And they run the show, I never ran anything, I was just bubbling along here when it came to legislation. So the people who, in a way, admit they’re inconsistent, get to run the Legislative System.

Interviewer: Thank you so much for your time, we really appreciate it.

Military Banks. and special intrest people. all very true things only reason ron paul is viewed as smart and looked as a leader. But he isen't hes not a leader all hes doing is promoteing ideas that will acually help us. A group of people who also view these ideas the same way need to become that leader. Cause paul wont do it.

HOW COULD A DISCUSSION ABOUT FREEDOM FOR ALL SUDDENLY GET HYJACKED BY ALL YOU RACISTS......????? ANTI WHITE, ANTI BLACK ANTI IMIGRATION>>>> IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH ANYTHING RP IS SAYING.... I UNDERSTAND WHY HE LOST... IT WAS BECAUSE OF MISDIRECTION FROM THE REAL ISSUE, WHICH IS WHAT HAS OCCURED HERE. IF YOU ALL WOULD JUST PUT ASSIDE YOUR PETTY GRIPES AND THINK ABOUT THE REAL ISSUE, OUR FREEDOM FROM THEM, THE BANKS THE FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM THAT MAKES US ALL SLAVES, BLACK, WHITE, RED AND YELLOW...... OUR HISTORY IS VERY DARK AND WHATY WE DID TO MANY CAN'T BE FORGIVEN, BUT I AND NO ONE CAN CHANGE THAT.. IM MORE CONSERNED WITYH THE FUTURE,,, WHAT WE CAN CHANGE. STOP SPEAKING AND LISTEN, THEN ACT. OTHERWISE STAY ASLEEP WITH YOUR RACIST THOUGHTS CLOUDING YOUR JUDGEMENT FOR WHAT IS BEST FOR OUR FUTURE!

I am from UK but I will always respect this guy. There are many people going to say in a few years " I wish we had listened to Ron Paul"
I hope the Eurosceptics and libertarians in the UK work with Ron Paul for global freedom against tyranny

southernman1905 1 second ago
"Why is it political suicide to criticize aipac?" As you know AIPAC is the ultra fanatic Zionist criminal organization which works for interested of Israel.
Use American tax payer money and also force any congressman, Senator to make policies for their interest.
America must wake up from deep sleep, and don't let Zionists to force all of us to be slaved for there crimes

you guys are not thinking deeply enough about this. first of all, the race debate is over; we are all equal and we know it. second of all, non white people have had to struggle in a white mans world for hundreds of years. i think its only fair that everybody has equality. third of all, anti-racist is anti-white? what? so being racist is now a characteristic of being white? fourth and lastly, you are all blowing things way out of proportion. i dont know anybody who wants to destroy the white race

coming from someone whose chose their name as joseph goebbels, i think everybody can assume that you already have an extremely biased opinion. first of all, are you even fucking serious? for hundreds of years, white people have been on top and largely unaffected while exploiting and being dicks to everybody else. get a grip and realise that non white people just want to have a fair shot in a white mans world. and seriously, its the 21st century, the race debate is a thing of the past.

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